Beer Trip Ideas★ ★ Take a trip to the taps. ★ ★

Greensboro and Winston-Salem: A Trifecta of Beer, Culture and History

A darts champion would have no trouble hitting Greensboro and Winston-Salem on the North Carolina map. These two beer destinations lie just north of the state’s bull’s-eye with a choice of interstate highways to take you there.

Greensboro is full of opportunities to sample North Carolina beer. Located downtown, Gibb’s Hundred Brewing (the name references co-founder Sasha Gibb and a Colonial geography term) is only a couple of blocks from destination brewpub Natty Greene’s Brewing, whose name also invokes local history: Gen. Nathanael Greene taught British commander Cornwallis what it means to win the battle but lose the war. Two blocks away, the International Civil Rights Center & Museum commemorates a landmark moment on the site of the 1960 Woolworth sit-ins that propelled a movement across America.

Try a range of regional craft beer at Sticks & Stones, where the menu choices are named for songs by North Carolina native Ryan Adams, and at Darryl’s Wood Fired Grill, whose selection includes brews from Greensboro’s Pig Pounder and Red Oak breweries. Rounding out the city’s growing number of craft beer options are Preyer Brewing Company and its newest, Little Brother Brewing, both located downtown. You can also sample homegrown vodka and gin at Fainting Goats Spirits.

A short drive away is Winston-Salem, considered the birthplace of North Carolina craft beer, where Moravian settlers operated the state’s first microbrewery in the late 1700s. While that physical structure no longer stands, the Moravian Single Brothers’ legacy lives on in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem, home to four craft breweries all within a mile of each other.

Most notable is Foothills Brewing, famed for its annual limited release of Sexual Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout, and best-selling North Carolina IPA, Hoppyum. Foothills also took home a bronze medal from the 2017 Great American Beer Festival for its Torch Pilsner. Its second location, the Foothills Tasting Room, features weekly yoga sessions, Foothills FIT, and regular food trucks. You can enroll in Foothills’ custom Beer School every first Saturday and learn the tricks to the trade. From the downtown brew pub, hop a five-minute shuttle to BB&T Ballpark and watch the Winston-Salem Dash minor-league baseball team play while sipping the hometown brew.

It’s easy to create your own Craft Draft Crawl in downtown Winston-Salem with five other breweries elevating the city’s craft beer scene. These may be smaller in size, but they’ve got big personalities and even larger followings. Newest to the lineup is Joymongers Barrel Hall. A brewery that got its start in Greensboro, Joymongers opened in Winston-Salem to serve only beers aged in bourbon and wine barrels.

Traveling with someone not so keen on the hop? Westbend Winery & Brewery offers the best of both worlds. Originally opened as the first winery in the Yadkin Valley, Westbend serves up bold wines alongside an equally impressive lineup of craft beers.

Though one may try, we understand if you can’t try every single masterfully brewed beer in Winston-Salem. No worries, there’s a growler shop for that. Beer and bottle shops are found in just about every corner of the city and they’re all happy to help you take a taste of Winston-Salem home with you.